


Romantic Idiots

by writingonpostcards



Series: 10k Posts Giveaway [17piesinseptember] [10]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gift Giving, Idiots in Love, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22190065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingonpostcards/pseuds/writingonpostcards
Summary: Written for my10k posts giveaway on TumblrPrompt: Dex and Nursey celebrating their first holiday after moving in together. They could be roommates who are both hiding what they think are unrequited feelings,or they could be in a romantic relationship already.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: 10k Posts Giveaway [17piesinseptember] [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1472468
Comments: 5
Kudos: 164





	Romantic Idiots

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dievampiredie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dievampiredie/gifts).



"I have one idea, but it's too personal," Dex tells Chowder.

"There's no such thing as too personal for a birthday gift,” Chowder reassures Dex through the phone. “Unless it's a sex thing, in which case, please don't do that."

"Chowder!" Dex splutters.

“Well the way you look at him sometimes, I don’t know,” Chowder defends.

“I don’t look at him—”

Chowder doesn’t even let him finish the lie. “Uh, yeah you do.”

Dex sighs. “I don’t  _ just  _ look at him that way.”

“Ch’yeah. I’ve seen the heart eyes. I know you  _ like him _ like him.”

Dex can’t refute that. It’s past time he owned up to why Nursey gets under his skin.

"Do whatever your idea is. You're great at gifts. Plus, Nursey’s a big sap who loves anything he gets,” Chowder finally gives Dex the encouragement he was searching for. “Don’t doubt yourself because you’ve finally clued in to how you feel about Nursey."

Dex hangs up feeling better but wishing his epiphany happened before they moved in together.

***

Chowder picks up on Nursey’s fourth try.

“You rang?”

Nursey ignores the sarcasm. "Hello. Yes. I have a dire Dex situation."

“You've been living together for three weeks. How can things be dire already?"

"No, like,  _ emotionally  _ dire. I need to get Dex something for Valentine's Day and I'm blanking."

"You're getting him a gift on  _ your _ birthday."

"But not  _ for  _ my birthday, that's weird. For Valentine's Day."

"Still weird. Normally that's a couple's thing," Chowder points out. "Not a two-friends-living-together thing."

"It doesn't have to be. Valentine’s is about love in general,” Nursey explains his thinking to Chowder. “And in specifics. Like my specific love for Dex. Which is not the romantic type. It's like the…" Nursey searches for the words. He's sure he's covered this in a recent poem. 

"'Him like sand; guaranteed beneath the deepest ocean'," he tries. "Wait, hang on.”

Chowder sighs heavily. "So imma need you to check out a dictionary and look up 'romantic'.”

“I don’t love Dex romantically,” Nursey lies immediately, thinking of the 100% romantic poem he accidentally referred to.

"Nope. Not buying it. You know how many times I've heard your denials? If I had a dollar for each, I could buy a dozen Sharks jerseys. At full price."

“Damn. That’s a lot of times.”

Chowder hums, then asks Nursey seriously, “Any of them been the truth?” 

Nursey looks at his notebook, crammed full of Dex-related prose. “Maybe the first few times,” he finally admits aloud.

“You know Dex better than you think,” Chowder encourages. “Just pay attention over the next few days and get him something he needs.”

Nursey hangs up feeling better but wishing his epiphany happened before they moved in together.

***

Dex can tell Nursey tries to keep the paper intact, but some sticky tape gets stuck to his fingers and it’s downhill from there.

"'Nursey self-patrol'," Nursey reads while Dex starts doubting how wise it was to get a first-aid kit. He’s only now realising it could read as offensive, even though he’s personalised it.

Nursey’s jaw drops. "You  _ embroidered  _ this?"

Dex shrugs. "It's just stitching."

" _ Just stitching. _ This is incredible."

Dex’s cheeks heat and he tries to shift Nursey’s attention. "Look inside."

Nursey unzips the kit and flips the lid back. He laughs. 

Dex exhales quietly, relieved.

“A voucher for the coffee place I love. A pack of purple jelly beans! Sw’awesome. And what are— _ Do these bandaids have poetry on them? _ Dex. This is, like, the best gift I've ever gotten," Nursey says earnestly, staring into Dex’s eyes. “I want to give myself a paper cut so I can use one right now."

"Please don't." Dex reaches to put the packet back into the kit, trying not to smile too fondly at the enthusiasm.

"Oh! I have something for you too,” Nursey announces, leaping from the couch.

"You do?"

"Yeah. Hang on. I hid it somewhere you'd never look."

Dex watches Nursey go to their kitchen and pull out his Frosted Flakes.

"You hid it in your cereal?"

“You wouldn’t touch these with a ten-foot pole.”

Nursey pulls a small box out and throws it. It bounces off the couch and lands on the floor.

“It’s fine. That thing’s sturdy,” Nursey assures.

Intrigued by what it is, and that Nursey has gotten him anything at all, Dex picks up the box and pulls the lid off. 

“A penknife?”

"You've been having trouble with your dad’s old one,” Nursey says, returning to the couch.

"I didn’t—How did you know?"

"You mutter when you're fixing things."

Dex tips the penknife out, noticing it’s been engraved. He reads the sentence and his pulse races. He lifts his head to Nursey.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Nursey says, a nervous smile on his face.

Dex re-reads the inscription. He swallows. "I didn't get you a Valentine's gift. I didn't realise—"

"It's not a big deal," Nursey tells him.

Dex looks up and catches Nursey rubbing a thumb under his chin. After all these years, Dex knows when Nursey's lying.

"It is a big deal. Why?” Dex wraps his fingers around the penknife. He thinks he knows the answer but he’d hate to assume.

Nursey shakes his head. "Can't say."

"Why not?"

"It might make living together uncomfortable."

Dex never thought he'd be the confident one in this situation but it looks like he's going to have to be to convince Nursey. "I doubt that." 

"You don't know what it is."

Nursey's eyes drop to his lips. Dex takes it as a cue and shuffles closer. "I think I might."

Nursey holds his gaze, eyes vulnerable. "Did Chowder say something to you?"

Dex shakes his head. "He didn't have to." He opens his palm between them so the engraving of Nursey's poetry shows. “I’ll be your Valentine, Nursey.”

It’s not poetic or romantic of even that clever, but it’s the truth. I makes Nursey groans but he lets Dex kiss him when he asks.

***

Chowder is their first houseguest after they’re properly moved in.

"You two are romantic idiots,” he tells them when they open the door.

Nursey wraps an arm around Dex’s waist and leans his head on his shoulder. "Idiots in love."

"We  _ just _ got together," Dex says, cheeks flushing. Nursey lives for it.

"And most people date first before moving in together. We're unconventional, babe," he says with relish.

“You’re terrible hosts,” Chowder interrupts the bickering. “Let your matchmaker in.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the final work in the series! They're also posted to [tumblr](https://17piesinseptember.tumblr.com/) and [pillowfort.](https://www.pillowfort.social/writingonpostcards)
> 
> Thanks to my favourite beta reader, [notenoughgatorade](http://notenoughgatorade.tumblr.com/).


End file.
